


slowly and then all at once

by tinglingworld



Category: Ocean's 8 (2018)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, with a side of confusion and honest talk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-03
Updated: 2019-01-03
Packaged: 2019-10-03 13:34:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,679
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17285012
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tinglingworld/pseuds/tinglingworld
Summary: Lou didn’t want to fall for her. She hadn’t expected to, either. They were friends. Close friends, sure, but friends. There was never anything remotely romantic between them.Until there was.





	slowly and then all at once

**Author's Note:**

  * For [loumillerlesbian](https://archiveofourown.org/users/loumillerlesbian/gifts), [5y8m12d](https://archiveofourown.org/users/5y8m12d/gifts).



> This is something I came up with yesterday, edited this morning and am posting now in complete and utter procrastination of writing my WIP or that uni paper on Carol that was originally due 3 months ago. I am such a functional adult.
> 
> I imagine this being set sometime in 1998 which means take your pick at what they were watching: either Titanic or The Man in the Iron Mask.
> 
> This is for afterlaughy who provided me with all these sweet head canons about Lou and Tammy that inspired me to take a chance with writing these two. Thank you, lovely!  
> And also for loumillerlesbian, because I read your tags on that "non-existent ship" meme, so this is me helping a gay out. I don't know if you'll like it, but here you go xD

“Lou?” Tammy’s voice was quiet barely above a whisper and it sent a sudden shiver down Lou’s back. Their eyes had been glued to each other for what seemed like a little eternity and all the reply she could come up with was:

“Hmm?”

“If I said ‘Kiss me’- “

“God, yes!”

 

In an instant Lou’s lips were on Tammy’s who kissed back eagerly. It was heated and passionate and they were both breathing heavily in a matter of moments. Lou brought one of her hands up to rest against the back of Tammy’s neck and pulled her closer. Their kiss deepened, tongues touching and moving in synch with each other and when Lou felt Tammy moan, it sent a surge of heat straight to her core. She kissed back with even more vigor and gently pushed Tammy back into the cushions until she lay flat on the couch and their bodies were touching full length, every inch of her suddenly burning with heat.

Tammy’s hands were glued to her back where they bore nails deliciously into her skin even through her tank top. Lou still had one hand in Tammy’s neck gently now caressing her cheek with a thumb while her other hand started roaming up her waist, brushing just barely over the side of her breasts. Tammy gasped and broke the kiss doing so, her eyes glued to Lou’s, pupils dilated so much their beautiful brown color was almost invisible. They were both panting. Tammy moved one of her hands from Lou’s back to tangle it in her hair and then gently placed her palm against Lou’s cheek. The gesture was so soft and felt so intimate Lou felt a sudden shudder run down her spine as the atmosphere shifted and the fire that had been burning a second ago turned into a lazy simmer that left her feeling no less warm but incredibly more self-aware.

Tammy felt it too, Lou could tell, and when she sat back up Tammy followed. Lou’s intention had been to bring some distance between them but Tammy stopped that with a hand at Lou’s waist, brushing a thumb over her skin where her shirt had ridden up.

 

“Don’t. Please,” she pleaded quietly and Lou could only nod and give into the gentle warmth of Tammy’s touch as she leaned in again and pressed her lips to Lou’s. This time it was gentle, almost shy, a harsh contrast to their making out a few minutes ago.

When they parted, Tammy rested her forehead against Lou’s who couldn’t, and didn’t want to, pull back. Tammy’s hand came up to her cheek again and she almost unconsciously leaned into the touch.

 

“Lou.” It wasn’t a question, it wasn’t a request, it was just her name, sounding ever so beautiful from Tammy’s lips. Lou closed her eyes. There was silence between them but Tammy stayed close and the gentle movement of her thumb against her skin didn’t seize.

“What are you thinking?” she whispered eventually.

Lou opened her eyes again and found herself mere inches away from and nearly drowning in the seemingly endless depths of Tammy’s forest browns.

“I don’t know what to think”, she replied honestly, voice hoarse.

“What are you feeling then?”

Lou felt her mouth twitch into a smile.

“Good. Safe. - Confused,” she added the last one as an afterthought.

“Yeah,” Tammy chuckled and let her hand fall back into her lap, sitting up straighter and thus eventually bringing some distance between them, “me too.”

 

Lou missed Tammy’s touch the second it was gone, yet at the same time that exact feeling confused her so much. Still, she gave into the need for contact and reached for Tammy’s hand, who happily let her interlace their fingers.

“What is, this Tammy?” she asked and slowly raised her gaze from their hands to meet Tammy’s eyes again.

She didn’t get an answer immediately, but Tammy didn’t break the eye contact either. Lou was sure there were worlds going on behind those beautiful, beautiful eyes, now almost appearing black in the low lighting of the room.

 

“I-,” Tammy began hesitantly and Lou felt the hold on her hand tighten, “I want this, Lou. I think- I think I have wanted this for a while now.”

Lou felt something tighten in her chest and a nagging in her head that was the foreboding of her thoughts setting back into motion where they had been blissfully silent ever since the end credits of the movie they’d watched had rolled around and they had locked eyes over Leo DiCaprio’s name flashing on the screen.

“I-,” she tried but fell silent again when she didn’t know how to finish that sentence.

“I know,” Tammy sighed and sounded defeated, “You love Debbie.”

“No, that’s not- I mean, yes I do, but- That’s not what I meant,” she tried to explain and knew at the same time that she didn’t actually explain anything. So she took a deep breath and forced herself to put coherent words together. She owed Tammy as much.

 

“I- want this too, Tam,” she said and the sparkle that instantly appeared in Tammy’s eyes warmed Lou’s heart, “but also, yes, I love Debbie. Which- I know you do, too.”

Tammy’s eyes clouded over immediately and Lou caught it even though the other blonde quickly averted her gaze and she almost regretted saying it.

“It’s okay. I know. It’s okay, Tam.”

But Tammy only shook her head.

“Yeah, no. It’s really not. It’s pathetic is what it is. She’s my best friend.”

“Who says you can’t be in love with your best friend?”

 

Tammy only huffed in response and still refused to meet Lou’s eyes again, which made Lou uncomfortable. She didn’t want Tammy hurting, so she gently tugged at her hand that was still intertwined with hers.

“Look at me, please?”

It took a moment but then Tammy complied with a deep sigh, the joyous sparkle all but gone.

“Debbie’s not here and this is not about her anyway,” Lou said and put as much emphasis as she could on that fact, “She’s gone- off to prove whatever the hell it is she thinks she needs to prove to her father. I don’t care. She left. It hurts.”

To that Tammy nodded and whispered “Yeah, it does” which tugged painfully at that specific tear in Lou’s heart.

“You’re here, though. And- I want this.”

Lou tried to convey all she meant by that in the way she returned Tammy’s gaze now and desperately hoped she would get it. That Tammy would get Lou’s realization that although she hadn’t consciously considered it until a few moments ago, she had always felt for Tammy a whole lot more than for any other friend she ever had. And that she wanted this now. But Tammy shook her head decisively, making Lou bite her lip hard in response.

“Lou- I don’t think I can do this if I don’t know what it is.”

She shook her head again and ran her free hand through her hair in a nervous gesture before but never tried to remove her other hand from Lou’s hold.

“I’ve fallen for you a little every day since we met. Which- is fine, because I do that. That’s just me. But you’ve- we have never been that way and it’s fine. You’re with Debbie, I get that. I’m not jealous or angry or anything. But- now… Debbie’s gone. So if- if we’re doing this, I need to know what this is for you. Because I might be fine loving you a little too much as a friend but I don’t think that extents to being your post-Debbie rebound.”

“Tammy, you’re not a rebound!”

Lou reached out to firmly press her palm against Tammy’s cheek, stopping her from averting her eyes again. Because, no! Tammy couldn’t think that!

“You are _not_ a rebound, okay?” Lou had a lot more to say, but she needed Tammy to understand this first. It physically hurt that Tammy might even think this was her just playing around.

When Tammy’s eyes softened ever so slightly and she nodded very slowly Lou exhaled deeply, the sudden tension that had built easing off again.

“Tam, I- I might not have been falling for you since we met but- you’re my friend. I care about you and- I don’t _know_ what this is but when you asked me to kiss you, I knew that that was what I wanted. I think- I think Debbie is one hell of a personality and- she kind of has a way to make herself the center of everyone’s attention.”

Tammy’s choked laugh made Lou grin, too. Of course, Tammy of all people probably understood the intoxicating power of Debbie Ocean best.

“But the fact that Debbie and I fell for each other- it doesn’t mean I don’t care for you. Or don’t think you’re beautiful or love your laugh and the way you pick at the ends of your hair when you’re nervous.”

Tammy chuckled a little and shook her head, bringing her hand up to rest against Lou’s on her cheek.

“Tam, if you let me- I want to keep kissing you. And I promise you I won’t just up and leave you - for anyone, not even Debbie if she ever comes back. Which- that’d probably completely mess with both of us anyway.”

Now Tammy flat out laughed and their hands fell from her cheek into their laps where they tangled together. Lou grinned too, although she didn’t want to give the thought of Debbie returning too much space for now. What she wanted was an answer from Tammy. So she carefully asked:

“Is that okay?” and ran her thumbs gently over the back of Tammy’s hands.

When Tammy smiled, Lou’s heart felt a lot lighter and when she leaned in to whisper “Yes” just before she pressed their lips together again, warmth spread through Lou once again, engulfing her in a comfortable haze of emotion that maybe she couldn’t exactly name just yet but that she’d revel in anyway.

 

**Author's Note:**

> I am actually considering writing more parts for this. Not necessarily making it a heavy plot fic, but just a few other glimpses into their relationship. I still have a lot to procrastinate, so...


End file.
